Capabilities
This page is identical with the separate “Capability statement” which is available here. Please access the .pdf file for the most up to date version.
This page partly summarizes material available on pages Organization, Staff, Roster, and Partnerships.
General
Supras Consult works on development cooperation, aid and investment operations in developing and transition economies, and provides advice and services in several sectors and areas.
Our work follows from our understanding of the integrated nature of a diverse set of elements, including: inclusion, income generation, innovation, institutional and social analyses, knowledge management, livelihoods, participation, natural resource management, the private sector and strategic communication.
We work on livelihoods (agriculture, coastal zone management, fisheries and rangeland management) and on broader socioeconomic issues and democratization processes, in Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East and South Asia.
Full service
Complete range of social development services including advisory, consulting, research, and applied work.
Long-term, independent, trusted partner
Integrity, trustworthy and timely delivery of products ensure that Supras is the ideal long-term partner.
Experience and professional team
Experienced Principal with broad, well-balanced and long expertise in consulting, project implementation, project management and research, joined by a team of consultants that cover diverse fields and are based in the countries of operation, and complemented by access to global networks of specialists.
International operating expertise
Ranges from the public sector and civil society / NGOs to multi-laterals and the private sector – across the complete social development value chain.
Business characteristics
Vision
Analysis, management, production, dissemination and use of relevant knowledge – with local people, for local people and by local people – towards addressing local needs and perceived problems at local, regional and global levels, with the aim of fostering public participation and community empowerment, and through this contribute to social and environmental sustainable development.
Core competencies
Capacity building, Co-management, Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), Conflict resolution, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Decentralization and devolution, Democratization, Ecotourism, Governance and transparency, Institutional analysis/reform, Knowledge management, Leadership, Needs assessment, Livelihoods, Microfinance, Participatory approaches, Poverty and social impact analysis, Rural finance, Social analysis/assessment, Stakeholder analysis, Strategic communication and Training.
Major clients
DFID, Dutch Aid, GEF, Govt. of Norway, Govt. of Sweden, GTZ, IFAD, IFC, ILO, Norad, Sida, UNDP, UNOPS, USAID, World Bank and private sector firms and NGOs.
Country experience
Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United States of America, Viet Nam and Yemen.
Services overview
Investment operations and projects
Cover the complete project cycle, which (depending upon the donor, country and project) may include some or all of these phases: Country assistance strategy, Identification, Preparation, Appraisal, Negotiation, Approval, Implementation and supervision, Completion and Evaluation (M&E).
Research, data collection and writing
Survey work, Data analysis, High quality and impartial sector research, Presenting, Excellent drafting and analytical skills.
Capacity building and training
Identification, Delivery, Evaluation and Follow-up.
Advisory and consulting
Co-management arrangements and strategies; Communication and conflict resolution; ICTs and development; Needs assessment; Network building and maintenance; Optimizing and streamlining relations between public sector, civil society, and private sector; Retooling for increased adaptation and optimal impact and Strategic communication.
About
History
At the time of establishing Supras in 2000, the Principal had worked on development cooperation for almost 20 years, and had gathered much insight and experience. Supras is to a large extent a continuation of this earlier work.
Approach
The only meaningful and correct way to address the mounting developmental challenges that we face on a global level, is along a multi-dimensional set of variables. This approach and mode of operation are summed up in two concepts: Inter-disciplinary approaches and Cross-cultural focus. These foci, together with an eclectic set of approaches and tools, are linked in two ways. They: (1) support each other during implementation, and (2) contribute – through synergies – to reaching the planned results and output with an investment operation.
Research and networking
Supras has an active research agenda of academic research collaboration, including participation in relevant conferences and workshops. Key foci include: (1) relations between Nature and Culture, (2) democratization, governance, inclusion, social analysis, and strategic communication, and (3) ICTs and development.
Supras maintains partnerships globally with a number of likeminded development and research organizations and firms, as well as with civil society. The latter includes the Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network (CBNRM Net) that the Principal set up as a World Bank activity, and now functions as Coordinator for.
Organization, management and consultants
Organization
Supras maintains a small head office and operates by hiring local experts. Qualified expertise is increasingly available in developing and transition countries, and Supras draws upon a global network of contacts and partners. There are important reasons for investing in and using local consultants, including: (1) local capacity building, and (2) close contacts and continuity with partners and clients.
Management
Lars T. Soeftestad (Ph.D, abd) is founder and CEO of Supras. He has over 25 years of experience working in development cooperation – ranging from teaching graduate courses at university level to hands-on capacity building in the field, from working for small NGOs to multilateral agencies, from research to project implementation, from policy formulation at the macro-level to advocacy at the local level, and from research to publishing. His most recent position, prior to establishing Supras, was for the World Bank, in various Vice Presidencies and Regions, and based in Washington DC, United States of America.
Consultants
We locate consultants for our work in two ways:
- Affiliates and global networking. Supras is part of several global networks consisting of firms, donors, research organizations and consultancy firms, and can very fast locate the right expertise for any operation. Also, Supras’ own affiliated companies and organizations maintain rosters of consultants.
- Consultant Roster. Supras maintains a roster of consultants that are based in developing and transition countries. They are both established and experienced professionals and younger persons that recently embarked upon a career in international development work and aid. Through working with Supras the latter receive key training, and achieve needed visibility.